Overview of Cru and our Campus Ministry
Cru is the American name of Campus Crusade for Christ, Int’l. Campus Crusade was founded in 1951 as Dr. Bill and Vonette Bright began ministry on a the UCLA college campus. Because of the energy, commitment, strategic nature of college students to make a difference in their world, Dr. Bright would say, “Reach the campus today and you reach the world tomorrow.”
Today, college campuses remain at the center of our ministry. It is in the college years that many are open to sincere, spiritual considerations. They want to know what they believe and why they believe it. Many will graduate having formed beliefs and values that they will rely on throughout their adult lives. We want them to experience what Jesus talked about when He said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Our goal in Cru is to help students begin a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. We then are committed to building new believers in their faith and training them to win, build and send others. In short, our mission is to be used of God to turn lost students into Christ-centered laborers.
There are numerous ways in which we go about this ministry. We will use larger group speaker presentations; one-on-one personal conversations; investigative Bible studies; evangelistic tools such as www.EveryStudent.com and evangelistic media campaigns. We are committed to extensive discipleship, in-depth training conferences, and encouraging students toward opportunities to serve Christ on campuses in the U.S. and throughout the world.
Our Campus Ministry is structured into several main areas and we personally spend time serving in each area :
1. Staffed Campuses – Traditionally our ministry has a team of staff based on a major state university. That team is focused on getting the gospel in front of every student on that campus, building into the lives of Christian students and raising up leaders among the students to go abroad and help launch new ministries.
2. Distance Coached – Faced with the realization that millions of college students are on campuses having no full-time Cru staff, we are trusting God for a vital, effective ministry on every unreached campus. We look a key student, a church partnership, a professor or community volunteer who can help launch and lead the ministry. Video calls, smart phones and the internet has made this much easier. A websites to help train people in building such a ministry on a campus is CruPressGreen.com. We also have been sending teams of students to reach out to build movements at local high schools.
3. Ethnic Field Ministries – The campus population is changing rapidly. As more and more ethnic students come to campus, they are increasingly immersing themselves in an ethnic student subculture on campus. Nationwide, 8000 students have been involved with one of ethnic minority movement affiliated with Cru. We sense the need to reach out to the whole campus and in some cases that has been designing special outreaches for ethnic minorities.
The Impact Movement is a movement of evangelism and discipleship among African Americans on the campus, extending into the community and, ultimately, to the world. This movement is committed to producing leaders of African descent who are spiritually focused, financially responsible, and morally fit.
Learn more about Impact at impactmovement.com
Epic was designed to reach a people group that is often overlooked – the Asian American people. Asians are the fastest growing ethnic group in America whose numbers have grown by fifty percent since 1990. Epic seeks to reach Asian American students and faculty by putting the gospel of Jesus Christ into a context that speaks to them. Epic’s heart is that every Asian American student would know someone who truly follows Jesus.
Learn more about Epic at epicmovement.com
Destino is raising up a generation of Latino and Hispanic leaders to change the world. We think Jesus was on to something when he said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” Destino is a movement of college students that wants to change the world, one life at a time, with the only One who can do it. We are committed to helping emerging leaders grow in their relationship with God and empowering students to take the truth of Jesus Christ to the campus, to the community, and to the world.
Learn more about Destino at destinomovement.com
Nations is a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ that is designed to reach Native American students on today’s college campus by putting the gospel of Jesus Christ into a context that speaks to them. Nation’s heart is that every Native American student would know someone who truly follows Jesus, and have an opportunity to pursue a deep and authentic relationship with the Savior.
Learn more about Nations at nationsmovement.com
Bridges is our ministry for international students. The world is at our doorstep. Help us influence the nations right here in Wisconsin by reaching international students, scholars, and faculty. It’s incredibly strategic and a whole lot of fun.
Learn more about Bridges at bridgesinternational.com
4. Cru Global Missions – Christian students from campuses in the U.S. will help start ministries on campuses in other parts of the world. It may be a very short assignment or a commitment of a year or more. And the U.S. is not the only “sending” nation. Students on campuses throughout the world will partner with another country to help launch a win, build, send on campuses in their area.
To find out more about the Campus Ministry and other 60 ministries within Cru, please visit www.cru.org